The purpose of this paper is to provide information about the first revision to the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) First Edition, referred to as ANZSCO First Edition Revision 1. This information paper also makes available the structure of ANZSCO First Edition Revision 1 to the public in advance of the full release of ANZSCO First Edition Revision 1 scheduled for July 2009.

ANZSCO First Edition was released in September 2006 and replaced the Australian Standard Classification of Occupations (ASCO) Second Edition and the New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (NZSCO) 1999 used previously in Australia and New Zealand, respectively. ANZSCO is primarily intended to provide an integrated framework for storing, organising and reporting occupation-related information in statistical applications. It can, however, be used in client-oriented applications, such as matching job seekers to job vacancies and career information.

BACKGROUND TO THE REVISION TO ANZSCO
ANZSCO was developed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Statistics New Zealand (Statistics NZ) and the (then) Australian Government Department of Employment and Workplace Relations. During the development of ANZSCO it was recognised that the needs of non-statistical users of ANZSCO would best be served if the classification could reflect the contemporary labour markets of Australia and New Zealand. To meet this need, it was agreed that minor updates to ANZSCO would be considered every two to three years.

In November 2007, representatives of the ABS, Statistics NZ and the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations met and agreed to undertake the first minor review of ANZSCO. The review commenced in July 2008 and will be completed by July 2009 to meet requirements for the 2011 Censuses in Australia and New Zealand.

SCOPE OF THE REVISION

The aim of the revision was to help ensure that ANZSCO remains a contemporary reflection of the Australian and New Zealand labour markets. This aim was constrained by the need to minimise disruption to data already classified to ANZSCO.

To achieve this, the primary focus of the review was making changes at the occupation (6-digit) level of the classification, and included the addition of new occupations and specialisations within occupations, changes to the titles of existing occupations, and amendments to definitions to update and help clarify the scope and content of certain occupations. Changes to the position of occupations within the structure were not considered because of the associated negative consequences for time-series occupation data. No changes were made to the skill level of occupations already existing in ANZSCO First Edition.

New occupations were only added where they were found to be statistically viable. That is, they met the minimum size guideline (as outlined in 'Statistical balance', page 9, Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO), First Edition (ABS cat. no. 1220.0)) and they would be able to be accurately and consistently identified in statistical surveys, censuses and administrative collections.

In the interests of maintaining data comparability at major, sub-major, minor and unit group levels, no structural changes were made to these levels. A number of title and definition changes were made to improve clarity. No new unit or minor groups were added.

CODE REUSE AND CODE RETIREMENT
Where the scope and/or content of a category in ANZSCO First Edition has changed in ANZSCO First Edition Revision 1, the original code assigned to that category has been retired and a new code assigned in ANZSCO First Edition Revision 1. This is irrespective of whether or not the title of the category has changed.

For example, the ANZSCO First Edition occupation 131111 Advertising and Public Relations Manager has been split into two new occupations: Advertising Manager, and Public Relations Manager. As neither of these two occupations equates to the old occupation 131111, this code has been retired and new codes 131113 and 131114 have been assigned to the two new occupations.

Code retirement is necessary to avoid potential confusion for users wishing to compare occupation data coded to ANZSCO First Edition with that coded to ANZSCO First Edition Revision 1. If codes were not retired whenever the scope and/or content of a category had changed, users may inadvertently attempt to compare data using a classification code thinking that there has been no change between the two categories represented by the code.

An exception to this principle are codes assigned to 'not elsewhere classified' (nec) categories. Where new occupations have been extracted from an 'nec' or where existing occupations are merged into the 'nec', the existing code assigned to the 'nec' category has been retained. These 'nec' categories are residual 'catch all' categories and are assigned special reserved codes ending in '99' and reflect the unit group in which they are located (see 'Codes reserved for residual categories', page 19, Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO), First Edition (ABS cat. no. 1220.0)).

For example, the occupation 149915 Equipment Hire Manager has been extracted from 149999 Hospitality, Retail and Service Managers nec. However, the code 149999 has not been retired.

Codes have been reused when only the title has changed or the definition of a category has been amended in order to clarify the scope of the category. These types of changes do not represent changes to the scope or content of the affected categories, and it is sensible to continue comparing data using the classification code.

STRUCTURAL CHANGES IN THIS REVISION

The primary purpose of this information paper is to present the structure of ANZSCO First Edition Revision 1. The following table provides information about categories in ANZSCO First Edition which have changed in ANZSCO First Edition Revision 1. The table outlines changes to the ANZSCO First Edition category (e.g. split, merged, or change of title) and the resulting ANZSCO First Edition Revision 1 category.

ANZSCO First Edition category

Change

ANZSCO First Edition Revision 1

131

Advertising and Sales Manager

Title change to reflect changes to the occupations in this minor group.

131

Advertising, Public Relations and Sales Managers

1311

Advertising and Sales Manager

Title change to reflect changes to the occupations in this unit group.

1311

Advertising, Public Relations and Sales Managers

131111

Advertising and Public Relations Manager

Occupation split into two occupations.Code 131111 retired.

131113

Advertising Manager

131114

Public Relations Manager

141999

Accommodation and Hospitality Managers nec

One new occupation extracted from this nec category.

141912

Retirement Village Manager

149999

Hospitality, Retail and Service Managers nec

One new occupation extracted from this nec category.

149915

Equipment Hire Manager

2322

Cartographers and Surveyors

Title change to reflect changes to the occupations in this unit group.

2322

Surveyors and Spatial Scientists

232211

Cartographer

Occupation split into two occupations.Code 232211 retired.

232213

Cartographer

232214

Other Spatial Scientist

2533

Internal Medical Specialists

Title change to reflect changes to the occupations in this unit group.

2533

Specialist Physicians

253314

Clinical Oncologist

Title change to clarify the scope of this occupation.

253314

Medical Oncologist

253399

Internal Medical Specialists nec

Title change to be consistent with the new title of this unit group.

253399

Specialist Physicians nec

253916

Radiologist

Occupation split into two occupations.Code 253916 retired.

253917

Diagnostic and Interventional Radiologist

253918

Radiation Oncologist

261399

Software and Applications Programmers nec

One new occupation extracted from this category.

261314

Software Tester

3112

Medical Technicians

One new occupation added to this unit group.

311216

Pathology Collector (Aus) / Phlebotomist (NZ)

3121

Architectural, Building and Surveying Technicians

Added an nec category to this unit group.

312199

Architectural, Building and Surveying Technicians nec

312116

Surveying or Cartographic Technician

Title change to be consistent with change to the title of Unit Group 2322.

312116

Surveying or Spatial Science Technician

3921

Binders, Finishers and Screen Printers

Title change to reflect changes to the title of occupations in this unit group.

This revision to ANZSCO sees the addition of 17 occupations and the merger of two occupations bringing the total number of occupations identified in ANZSCO to 1,014.

In addition to the structural changes outlined in the table, a number of changes will be made to the definitions of categories, and to the alternative titles and specialisations of some occupations. These changes do not directly effect the structure of the classification and so are not detailed here. They will be made available when the full version of ANZSCO First Edition Revision 1 is published, expected to be in July 2009.

RELEASE OF ANZSCO FIRST EDITION REVISION 1
This information paper details the classification structure of ANZSCO First Edition Revision 1 (Appendix). Following the completion of the review, an HTML version of ANZSCO First Edition Revision 1 will be released on the ABS website to replace the existing HTML version of ANZSCO First Edition. This version will provide detailed information about the conceptual basis of ANZSCO; definitions for all major groups, sub-major groups, minor groups, unit groups and occupations which comprise ANZSCO; correspondence tables (concordances) between ANZSCO First Edition Revision 1, ASCO Second Edition, NZSCO 1999 and ISCO-88; and the alternative views.

A revision document outlining the changes to ANZSCO First Edition will be published to allow users of the hardcopy ANZSCO First Edition publication to update their copy of the classification.

It is anticipated that the HTML version and revision document will be released in July 2009.

IMPLEMENTATION OF ANZSCO FIRST EDITION REVISION 1
It is anticipated that ANZSCO First Edition Revision 1 will be implemented in relevant ABS collections from 1 July 2009. It is anticipated that ANZSCO First Edition Revision 1 will be implemented in relevant Statistics NZ collections from 1 April 2009.

COMPARABILITY WITH ISCO

The International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) was developed by the International Labour Organization (ILO). ISCO was first issued in 1958 and revised versions were produced in 1968 and 1988. The main aims of ISCO are to provide a basis for international comparisons of occupation statistics between member countries and to provide a conceptual model for the development of national occupation classifications.

The relationship between ANZSCO and ISCO-88 is explored in ANZSCO - Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations, First Edition (ABS cat. no. 1220.0).

A correspondence between ANZSCO First Edition Revision 1 and ISCO-88 will be released in July 2009.

An updated classification, ISCO-08, is currently being developed by the ILO. The structure of ISCO-08 was endorsed by the Governing Body of the ILO in March 2008. Work is currently progressing on drafting definitions for all categories in ISCO-08 in English, French and Spanish and is expected to be finalised in time for the 2010 round of international censuses. Correspondence tables between ANZSCO and ISCO-08 will be developed by the ABS and Statistics NZ following publication of ISCO-08 in English.